Musings

Probably won't keep up with this blog at all.  It's already been over two months since my last post... oops!!! :)

The drawings thing is probably a flop.  I did end up selling one of them though!  Woot woot!

I'll always prefer making candles and they take a lot more work (with each order, that is... b/c with the drawings, they only have to be printed after I've drawn them the initial time).  Drawing isn't really a passion of mine, although I do find it enjoyable.  I loooooooooove making candles!  I had my fingers crossed for the drawings to be successful simply b/c they're cheaper to make and faster/easier to pack up and ship out if they sell.  Candles are a much bigger hassle, but they're a hassle I love!

So right now my shop is kind of in limbo between drawings and candles.  I may keep a mixture for a while before I make a decision one way or the other.

I just started adding my team shot glass candles back to the shop since football season is JUST OVER A MONTH AWAY!  I can't believe it and I'm so excited! :)

Eh...

Not a lot happening lately.  I'm a bit discouraged with the drawings...  I was so excited when I first started making them because I thought they were so awesome looking that people MUST want them, lol!  Obviously I was alone in my opinion of just how awesome they are.  I still enjoy drawing and will continue to do it, but I either need to make a change when it comes to listing them on Etsy or stop listing them altogether.

I'll always loved candle making, as it's my original "craft" that I started over seven years ago in our little apartment in the metro Washington, D.C. area.  Now I mostly only make candles for us (we burn them every single evening), but I occasionally throw some up on Etsy to see what sticks.  I sold a few candles on Etsy during the Christmas shopping season last year and it's looking like that's the only time of year I have any hope of selling anything.  So I'll just keep making candles for us and keep my fingers crossed that somebody will wander into my little section of Etsy and have their interest piqued by SOMETHING in my shop.

I'm now looking back into the "real" work force for some part time work.  The dream was for this to be my part time work, but no... not happening.

Looking for more craft ideas!

So I made one more letter (slow, I know)... an E!

I've been messing around with colors and toying with the idea of listing color versions of my letters.  Then I think... they're not selling in black and white, which I think is a beautiful contrast and therefore the best version, so why pay for additional listings in color that probably won't sell either?

At this point, I'm thinking I'll just play around making whatever I want and enjoy making, instead of focusing on sales (which are nonexistent, lol).

I'm super interested in trying my hand at embroidery hoop art or mixed media hoop art (which involves little to no embroidery, if I end up sucking at embroidery).  Hoop art is just so darn pretty on the wall, especially in little groupings of multiple pieces of art.  May or may not actually try it, I'm just thinking as I type here.

I really do LOVE making the zentangle letters, but it's disheartening when nobody shows any interest in them.  I, personally, think they're gorgeous, but my opinion doesn't mean much, being the creator of them and all. :)

Here are a couple of my trials with color:

More New Letters

Tried out some different patterns on these letters... the curly pattern in particular intimidated me a bit.  Plus I waited until I'd almost completed the letter to try it for the first time on the M, so if I jacked it up, I would've wasted a TON of time on that letter.  Luckily I liked how it turned out.  Then I had more fun doing the same pattern on the J. :)

I want to do a LOT more letters, but they take so freakin' long and I want to continue to enjoy drawing, not feel like it's a chore, so I might mix it up with non-letter drawings from time to time instead of cranking through all the letters all at once.  Whew!  That was one helluva sentence right there.  Total run-on.  Do I care?  Nope.  It's MY blog and I'll do what I want to!

New Letters, No Sales :(

Soooo... I still haven't sold a single drawing!  Business is BOOMING.  Obviously not.  I have sold a couple of sets of bottle cap magnets in the past month, but that's not all that exciting.  How hard is it to glue a magnet to a bottle cap?  Okay, I do a little more than that... I fill the cap with sealant and let it dry for a day or two and THEN glue the magnet to the hardened sealant so that the magnet's not lost down inside the cap, but seriously... anybody can do this.  Yet it's the one and only thing in my shop lately that anybody wants to purchase.  I want to sell the things that take me time and that I LOVE making.

I added a couple of new letters today: L and S.  I thought I was randomly picking letters, but it appears I've now made my four initials (first, middle, maiden, and last) without consciously meaning to.  Does that mean I'm self obsessed?  I didn't think so, but gravitating towards your own initials might possibly perhaps indicate that.  Oops.  Oh well.  Hey!  If you can't love yourself, why would anybody else want to??  Eh?  Eh?  Didn't think you had an answer to that one.  Yeah.
I'm thinking next I'll do O, H, E, I, R (in no particular order).  I would ask for requests, but nobody reads this blog!

For my ghost readers - here are my two newest letters:

Zentangle Letters!

I've now discovered that I love a form of drawing called "zentangle"... or would that be zentangling?  I'm new to it, so I don't know anything about it except that it looks cool, you must have a steady hand and extreme focus, and it takes FOREVER.  Normally I'm not a fan of things that take forever, but the awesomeness of this just completely overrides any thought of time.  I'll draw for an hour and think it was 15 minutes.  And really, this shit is beautiful.  Or maybe I'm just really full of myself.  Either way, I'm happy with it!! :)

As you can see, these are clearly letters.  I'm thinking they'll look cool as a unique and funky way to spell out a baby's name over a crib in place of those overused letter blocks hanging from ribbon.  Examples:

I don't know about the rest of the world, but I'm tired of seeing letter blocks hanging over cribs from cutesy ribbons.  I want something different!  (If I ever have a need for announcing a baby's name over a crib, that is.)  

The zentangle letters I'm drawing will be printed on 65 lb linen stock, which has a really cool texture to it.  They're 8 x 10, so perfect for framing in standard frames (no expensive frame jobs), and they're the perfect size for lining up in that empty wall space in a kid's room! 

Another way I'm thinking they'd be cool is to spell out the family name over the fireplace or other location OR a cool dorm room decoration... just initials or a full name on the dorm room wall.  Spiffy! :)  

Yeah, I'm trying to sell my art here, but I truly do believe these are awesome ideas and that the letters themselves are awesome... I definitely plan to use them in my home.

Can't go wrong with Dr. Seuss

Decided on a quote/saying to go with the weather-looking design from a couple of weeks ago!  Dr. Seuss.  Always a winner.  I wish I could have done a cool freehand calligraphy-type writing of it, but I can't quite figure that out yet (who knows if I ever will)... but the happy text with balls on the end works for me! :)